The number of job seekers in Israel rose by 3.2 percent in September, climbing to a total of 226,797.
The rise primarily derives from the inclusion of single mothers with children between the ages of two and seven years, who until now had been excluded from the tally.
The Economic Arrangements Bill for 2003, however, calls for their classification as job seekers in order for them to be eligible for state benefits.
As a result, over 25,000 single mothers with small children were added to the number of job seekers, as opposed to just 9,000 single parents in this group in August.
Without taking these single parents into account, the jobless total actually fell by 0.9 percent, to around 207,000. Despite the small drop in the number of job seekers in September, without the single parents, the trend for 2003 continues to show an increase in the number of job seekers each month. The number of unemployment hotspots – communities where at least 10 percent of the population is unemployed – rose to a new high of 39, compared to 37 in August.